It’s summer when you want to look your best if you’re heading to the pool or the beaches. Those few pounds you packed on during the holidays and the winter are harder to lose than to gain.

It’s even more of a challenge when you’re a recovering food addict.

Over the years, I’ve written several times about eating disorders from Karen Carpenter’s anorexia nervosa to my own battle with bulimia.

I wrote, “In early 1995, I was down to 116 pounds and I thought I was fat… I’m still obsessed with weight gains and losses, eating too much, and fighting the urge to binge and purge.”

Another time I shared, “… I fight the food demon of overeating every day. A few pounds to the average person is a huge burden, a catalyst for insecurity, and a path for destruction to a food addict.”

While I was a practicing bulimic for nine years from 1986-1995, I got my act together for more than two decades.

Sadly, I fell off the wagon this past winter. Abrupt changes in my life were just too much to handle and I found solace in binging and purging. After months of relentless walking on the treadmill and purging all that I’d eat, I lost 20 pounds the wrong way.

I’m happy to say that I’m back on the wagon again — almost three months now! I’m eating healthy, exercising, and gaining a few months and I’m okay with it.

Ironically, I got back on the wagon on the day I packed my truck to move to Panama City, Florida. My celebratory meal for the renewed fight was Osaka Buffet in Moline!

So, what prompted me to share this failure and my renewed effort to start the next two decades of a healthy eating lifestyle? A new Netflix movie and “Rolling Stone” magazine.

I watched “To The Bone” about a 20-year-old woman’s struggle with anorexia that was not only threatening to kill her, but it was also tearing her family apart.

The movie was honest and it accurately covered the “tricks” that people struggling with eating disorders perfect on a daily basis.

And, it earned points with me for featuring a young man dealing with anorexia since most people associate the disorder with girls and women.

It’s estimated that boys and men now make up about 25% of those with eating disorders.

Also, I was reading an old issue of “Rolling Stone” and the feature was on actress Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”, “Spy” and “Mike & Molly”).

She told the magazine that she often wished she was taller, prettier, and thinner.

One night she was looking at the IMDB message board and saw an anonymous message from Ohio at 3:43 a.m. calling her a “fat pig” and hoping “she drops dead of a heart attack in front of her children.”

McCarthy told the magazine, “all the air left my lungs. Like, wait a minute. My kids? Like who –? What kind of ass? I kind of wanted to go to Ohio and just be like, ‘Hey, I have two girls, I do by best, and you hope I die in front of them? Like, what the f*ck? I mean, you can hate my movies, find me boring or over-the-top, whatever it is. But when you move into that realm of the world…”

Melissa, you’re a beautiful, funny woman! If you lose weight, I’m thrilled for you. If you don’t, I know you’ll be happy with your life and your wonderful family.

Through thick and thin, when we see someone that may look too skinny or overweight, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge them on their appearance. We really don’t know the struggles that they may be going through in their lives.

If you or someone you know is fighting anorexia and/or bulimia, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association at 1-800-931-2237 or check out their website, http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend! I hope you have a great one whatever you do.

The highlights for me will be watching the season four finale of “House of Cards”, this week’s “How To Get Away With Murder” and “Madam Secretary”, and the return of “The Walking Dead”! And, I hope to work in seeing “La La Land”!

Thank you for checking out my thoughts. As always, if you disagree with me, do it diplomatically and be concise. 🙂

LADY GAGA SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW

Lady Gaga is an amazing performer. I’ve seen her in concert three times and I’d go see her again another three times.

I guess I can count her “Super Bowl LI” halftime show as my fourth Gaga show. Like tens of millions across the world, I was blown away!

While Gaga is earning rave reviews for her energy, her vocals, her performance, and her costumes, you know there are going to be haters.

Some say she wasn’t “political” enough. Yes, she could have been more blatant about it. However, if you stop and think about it, she did two things that were political and brave.

She opened with “God Bless America” and then segued into “This Land Is Your Land”, which Woody Guthrie wrote in 1940 as a contradiction to Kate Smith’s late-1930s patriotic “America” song, which he thought was unrealistic.

Some versions of “This Land” also include Guthrie’s original lyrics:

Gaga, in front of the football crowd and the millions watching — even in red states — brazenly sang of equality for all during “Born This Way”.

She didn’t hold back with the lyrics “don’t be a drag, just be a queen”, she sang about being “gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender”, and that no matter what your race, you were born this way and born to be brave!

That’s a first for the Super Bowl halftime spectacle! Take that!

It’s estimated that 113.7 million people watched “Super Bowl LI”, but the audience spiked during Lady Gaga’s halftime show, which generated a 50.0 rating, which means that one out of every two televisions on at the time were tuned into the game!

MORE ON GAGA

After the performance, some (the insecure) took to social media and started fat-shaming her. Seriously?

This isn’t the first time people took aim at Gaga over her weight, which is even sadder considering she’s recovering from an eating disorder.

That was about four years ago. I wrote about it at the time and even talked about my own battle, Karen Carpenter’s, and others.

Edward Snowden is a hero to some and a traitor to others. After exposing the American government for spying on the lives of Americans (and people across the entire world), he’s now exiled in Russia.

Director Oliver Stone’s movie about Snowden, with the always charming Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the whistle blower, came and went in 2016.

Watching the trailer, it was Gordon-Levitt’s voice that was hard for me to grasp. However, it was less distracting in the 2-hour-plus movie. But, once I heard the actor’s voice and the real Snowden’s voice, I’m more baffled than ever about the voice portrayal.

While Gordon-Levitt is compelling as Snowden, the real stars of the movie are Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend Lindsay Mills and the computer special effects and the music score.

It’s frightening to know just how much information governments collect on citizens every time we’re online or use our cell phone.

Even before Snowden, this movie, or Russian or Chinese computer hackers, it doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to know that the most private of our correspondences are not private at all.

Overall, the movie was too long and it seemed like a dramatization of a Wikipedia page on Edward Snowden and the National Security Agency.

But, if you really didn’t get bogged down in the real-life Snowden that played out in the news, it’s worth your time.

GRADE: B-

SARAH PALIN

While we’re political opposites, I’d still love to have dinner with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd. (Now, this dinner would have to take place at a restaurant — not Chick-fil-A or Cracker Barrel — because I wouldn’t want to feast on moose or reindeer, although Alaskan salmon would be great!)

Recently, I finally got around to reading her 2009 book, “Going Rogue” and watching the movie “Game Change” about the 2008 presidential election with Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Julianne Moore as Palin.

I enjoyed learning more about Palin and the events that shaped her life and her views. I admire her love and commitment to her family.

With that being said, at that dinner with Palin, I’d ask her about a reoccurring theme in the book for clarification.

Early on (page 45), Palin writes that she has “respect for equality” and later on (page 395), she says she’s “tired of divisions”. She also says, “too many of us have felt ignored and become disillusioned.”

I find these comments ironic because she is/comes across as very divisive. Also, when she talks about respecting equality, who is that for? Clearly, it’s not for the LGBT community.

Trust me, when she talks about feeling ignored, I’d have to ask her again how can she say that without thinking about the LGBT community with discrimination laws and the fight for marriage equality. Her version of equality and my version are different. Mine includes ALL AMERICANS!

This brings me to another point that Palin makes. She says it doesn’t matter where you grew up, who you are, your gender, race, or religion “if you love this country and will defend our Constitution, then you’re an American”.

It’s clear from the book that she loved Ronald Reagan as much as I love Jimmy Carter, who she detests.

My final dinner discussion point would be that Palin stressed that our 52 American diplomats and citizens held hostage for 444 days in Iran (November 1979-January 1981) were released minutes after President Reagan was inaugurated.

She writes, “The enemies of freedom took notice”.

Future enemies might have taken notice, but what Palin failed to clarify is that those 52 hostages were ALREADY on that plane to freedom while Jimmy Carter was still president. The plane was held on the tarmac until Reagan was officially sworn in as one last swipe at Carter’s presidency.

Long before #45’s administration coined the phrase “alternative facts”, Palin is/was on board with them, too.

DINNER PARTY WITH….

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Of course, I’d love to dine with Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton and President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter.

But, after reading legendary gossip columnist Liz Smith’s 2005 book, “Dishing: Great Dish – And Dishes – From America’s Most Beloved Gossip Columnist”, I now desperately want to attend a dinner party hosted by Barbara Walters at her Fifth Avenue apartment!

Smith says, “Whether or not she has the position of society’s grand dame, Barbara certainly knows how to host New York’s most interesting dinner parties.”

Smith adds that Walters doesn’t hesitate to have her guest mingle outside of their “circles”, sing songs, make speeches, give a toast, or write poems. It sounds incredible!

Walters starts her lavish parties with “excellent caviar, toast, the works.” She calls that the easy part.

This is followed by “The Children’s Menu” — “small delicious hamburgers, tiny baby hot dogs on delicate buns… a miniature ramekin of macaroni and cheese, french fried potatoes, incredible little dishes of coleslaw, and large servings after of ice cream and sauces. All of this served with incredible wines followed by coffee and big glasses of what most host and hostess forget — ice water.”

The entertaining book also shares interesting recipes, including the fun Elvis-inspired “fluffernutter”.

Smith also tells funny stories about the secret food lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, “mountain oysters”, and she shares this great quote from Larry Gelbart, the creator of “M*A*S*H”, “Champagne is only ginger ale that knows somebody!”

“BACK TO GOD” CONTROVERSY

Country music icon and one of my idols, Reba McEntire, just released her first Christian/Gospel album, “Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope”.

It’s expected to debut at #1 on the Country and Christian album charts and in the Top Ten on the “Billboard 200”, which charts all genres of music.

Her new single, “Back To God”, has already topped the Christian sales chart, but the song is getting more press with some outlets claiming that it’s pro-Donald Trump.

If you know anything about Reba, regardless of her political affiliation, she does not preach about it. Yes, she’s friends with former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush and she’s donated money to both Democrats and Republicans.

But, “Back To God”, is not singing the praises of #45. The song was originally on Randy Houser’s debut album in 2008, so it was released during George W. Bush’s presidency!

The bottom line is that the song talks about how society seems broken. Regardless of your party affiliation, you have to admit that we, as Americans and the human race, are in a bad place now and the lack of respect for our fellow man only adds to the sad state of affairs.

So, sing it Reba and preach on!

I’ll have my review on the new Reba album soon. Also, I highly recommend, “Remnants” by LeAnn Rimes. It’s spectacular and I’ll have my full thoughts on that one, too.

THAT’S IT

With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!

It’s something we think about and many of us almost instinctively think of hell. Well, to hell with that, I want to talk about heaven today.

There’s Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” (which was re-made by DJ Sammy), “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”, “Heaven’s Just A Sin Away”, “Stairway To Heaven”, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, “One Night In Heaven”, “Tears In Heaven” and many more songs with “heaven” in the title.

Yes, I’m getting older, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about mortality. My parents died early — my mother was 47 and my father was 55. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t cross my mind. However, my latest physical showed that I was healthy and I feel good for my age.

But, I know one day I’ll come to those pearly gates and I’ll be welcomed in with open arms. Since we really don’t know what heaven is like, how we see it is subjective.

When the time comes, I’ll miss those that I leave behind here on Earth. However, I already know what I’ll do when I get there.

It brings me such joy almost four years after my beloved golden retriever, ABBA, left us on Earth to know she’ll be there smiling and happily greeting me.

October 2011

If she’s napping when I make my entrance, I wonder what her thumping tail on the clouds will sound like when she knows I’ve entered heaven. I hope it still sounds like her tail thumping on the hardwood floors in life. That brought me such joy to come home and hear that welcoming sound. Upon hearing that, any problems I had that day just melted away.

Since heaven is peaceful, I know that Miss ABBA and my chow chow, Keshia, (1986-1998), are friends.

Their demeanor was very different. ABBA loved everyone (she was a golden) and Keshia was very much a one-person dog. She showered me with love, but was slow to warm to others.

And, it would be great to see our family dog, Cricket, again. We had her through much of my childhood in the 1970s. She died in 1982, my senior year in high school.

After I shower Miss ABBA with love and reacquaint myself with Keshia and Cricket, I can’t wait to see my mother and let all the years, tears, and sadness since November 1990 just fade away.

I won’t have to give her all of the details of my successes and failures and the ups and downs in my life. She already knows all of that because she’s been looking over me and my sister, Tammy, now for 25 years.

It’ll be so nice to see my grandparents, John Henry and Helen Peoples, again.

I was lucky to have my grandmother Helen around until I turned 29, but my grandfather, John Henry, was taken away from us in early 1978, when I was only 13.

While I’ll never forget his last Christmas as he was dying from colon cancer, it was remarkable how he stayed in good spirits.

I’ll always cherish the weekends we spent together at Kentucky Lake camping out and fishing. Also, all of the memories of just piddling around in the back yard and in his work garage will remain vividly clear in my mind. He made me feel loved and appreciated.

I never really liked the taste of beer too much. But, as a kid, it was so cool that he would let me lick the suds off his beer cans when he’d open them. Maybe it’s because of the suds that I’ve now moved on to champagne, wine, and vodka as an adult. 🙂

I can’t wait to say “thank you” and let him know how much I idolized him. I know, as a kid, I never told him.

There was talk that I was almost named after my father. I’m grateful that I wasn’t. However, it would have been an honor to have been a “John Henry”!

Since heaven is a perfect place, it’ll be nice to be friends with my father, Hollie. We weren’t friends in life.

I’d be able to forgive him for his hateful, homophobic, sexist, and racist attitudes, and his total disregard for anyone else’s feelings. In heaven, we wouldn’t have to deal with his alcoholism and all of the times he aimed guns at me and my mother and sister forcing us to hide outside until he passed out. All would be forgotten.

In life, I was not sad when he died. I was only saddened because of my mother’s broken heart. Whatever good she saw in him, maybe I’d be able to see in heaven.

Once I caught up with my cherished pets and my family, the first person I want to befriend in heaven is Karen Carpenter.

While chasing fame in life, Karen was obsessed with her weight and she starved herself to death.

In heaven, Karen would never have to hear the words anorexia nervosa and I wouldn’t know anything about bulimia, the eating disorder that I struggled with for nine years from 1986 through 1995.

In early 1995, I was down to 116 pounds and I thought I was fat. While I’m not a practicing bulimic today, I’m still obsessed with weight gains and losses, eating too much, and fighting the urge to binge and purge.

On Earth, Karen had the voice of an angel. In heaven, I would be blessed to have a front row seat to hear my new friend sing.

Until then, her music lives on.

And, since it’s Christmas time and that friendship and concert with Karen will have to wait, I can enjoy this classic.

I’d also like to meet John Lennon and just sit and listen to his wisdom of his words. People on Earth would still be able to strive for the peace found in “Let It Be” and”Imagine”, my two favorite songs of all time.

I’d also want to hang out with Jessica Savitch and let her know that she inspired me go into television news.

And, finally, in heaven, I’d be able to witness former President Ronald Reagan hanging out with the more than 650,000 Americans that have died of AIDS. A majority of those have been gay men.

It took President Reagan almost six years after taking office to publicly mention AIDS for the first time. In the spring of 1987, he called it “public enemy number one”.

From the summer of 1981 when “The New York Times” published an article about “gay cancer” to end of the year that Reagan first publicly mentioned AIDS, a reported 50-thousand-plus Americans were diagnosed with the disease and more than 40-thousand of them died!

I hated the man for decades for his ignorance in handling the AIDS crisis.

However, in heaven, all would be forgiven and I could see Ronald Reagan at a disco or a tea dance with all those that suffered during his presidency and all of those that succumbed to AIDS in the 25 years after he left office.

I can envision haters like Jesse Helms, Jerry Falwell, Anita Bryant (if she goes before me), and their close-minded friends on Earth partying with Harvey Milk, Matthew Shepard, Teena Brandon, and every other LGBT person that died at the hands of anti-gay violence brought on by bigotry and ignorance.

In heaven, we’re all God’s children like we should be on Earth.

In heaven, there’s only love.

I’m not ready to go to heaven just yet, but I sure would have so much fun catching up and living the life.

Pop singer Ke$ha is known for her wild videos and stage antics. Her songs are fun and over the top, too. In her first hit, the #1 “Tik Tok”, she sings “before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack”.

So, you might think her treatment has something to do with drugs and alcohol. However, it’s something different.

The 26-year-old pop star released a statement last weekend saying, “I’m a crusader for being yourself and loving yourself but I’ve found it hard to practice. I’ll be unavailable for the next 30 days, seeking treatment for my eating disorder…to learn to love myself again. exactly as I am.”

EATING DISORDERS AFFECT BOYS, TOO

Ke$ha, I wish you much success in what will be a daily struggle for the rest of your life. I know it’s something that she and the millions like her will fight each day.

When people think of eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia, most incorrectly believe it only affects females and Karen Carpenter’s name likely comes to mind.

However, it’s estimated that 10-15% of those affected by eating disorders are male.

I, too, am a recovering food addict. You’ll often hear me blog about eating healthy or walking on the treadmill. It’s not because I’m vain. It’s because I fight the food demon of overeating every day. A few pounds to the average person is a huge burden, a catalyst for insecurity, and a path for destruction to a food addict.

After nine years of being a practicing bulimic from 1986-1995, I’ve been on the wagon now for going on 19 years. Like an any other addict, recovery is a daily process.

It’s because of this that I blogged a couple of years ago about Adele’s weight.

It’s been my second most viewed blog since I posted it. I’m sharing it again to raise awareness of weight and eating disorders. I hope you check it out. Feel free to share it because it might save someone who needs to know they are not fighting this battle alone.

It’s Friday and we’re out of the deep freeze from earlier this week when wind chills hit -50°. I hope you have a great weekend. We’re taking down the Christmas tree, watching movies, and going to brunch Sunday.

If you’re thinking of a movie to rent this weekend and you want to see a love story, you have to see “Bridegroom”!

“BRIDEGROOM”

I’ve blogged about the love story of Shane Bitney Crone and Tom Bridegroom several times and, last weekend, we watched the documentary “Bridegroom” by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the powerhouse behind “Designing Women”.

It doesn’t matter if you’re straight or LGBT, the story of Shane and Tom meeting, falling in love and traveling the world, Tom’s accidental death, and Shane not being able to attend the funeral in Indiana because of Tom’s family’s homophobia is touching and heartbreaking.

While watching this 80-minute documentary, you don’t feel that you’re watching a gay love story, you sense that you’re watching the love between two friends grow. Simply, it’s a love story of two people.

If you’re opposed to marriage equality, this might open your eyes to see why it’s so important in this country and the world that everyone that falls in love should have the right to marry. If you’re on the fence, I sense that you’ll want to find out how to make marriage legal for everyone.

“Bridegroom” is a must see! As the credits rolled, I wished that I had known Tom and I hope that Shane can find that same love again.

GRADE: A+

LILY TOMLIN GETS MARRIED

Legendary comedian Lily Tomlin, last seen on Reba McEntire’s ABC series, “Malibu Country”, is now a married woman.

The 74-year-old actress married Jane Wagner, her partner of 42 years.

Friend and columnist Liz Smith writes, “It was an eventful New Year’s Eve … my longtime friends, Lily Tomlin and her love, the writer Jane Wagner, got married on the eve of 2014. … My wish is that their happiness will be as great as their combined talents.”

Best wishes Lily and Jane!

IS IT OKAY TO “OUT” PEOPLE?

I don’t know if Illinois Republican Congressman Aaron Schock, from Peoria, is gay or not. I know he’s cute, has a nice body, and an interesting sense of style.

However, there’s been rumors swirling around Schock for years. And, now his sexuality is front and center after a Facebook post from journalist Itay Hod last Friday.

That’s just a portion of the lengthy post of Hod’s “hypothetical” question. The story is now being picked up by gay and straight news outlets.

So, there two are ways to go with this? Is it a big deal if Schock is gay or not and should people “out” other people?

Here’s a tweet from Hod about his feelings?

Here’s my opinion and I welcome yours. Dialogue is always good.

Having any public figure to “come out” as gay helps to demystify gay people. It also gives kids that may be LGBT or questioning their sexuality a role model.

People have talked about Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster’s sexuality for years, but she refused to address it.

I was happy when she finally came out as a lesbian at last year’s Golden Globe awards ceremony in an acceptance speech. Or, did she?

There’s a big difference between someone who lives their life as their own and a person, like Schock, who has been an enemy to the LGBT community and marriage equality. In that case, the answer is yes.

If there is proof, yes, PROOF, that Schock is gay, it needs to come out and so does he. Maybe then he can live a happier life not hiding in the closet and maybe explain if his political career is that much more important than the lives of his LGBT brothers and sisters.

If he’s straight, let him be and let’s vote him out of office for his ignorant anti-gay voting record.

It’s people like Schock that stood in the way of Shane and Tom getting married in California and Shane not having “legal rights” to visit Tom as he lay dying in the hospital!

DEJA VU

This isn’t the first time I’ve brought up the subject of “outing” people.

It was the topic of my seventh blog back on January 15, 2012, called “Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are”. That blog was about the sexuality of professional football player Tim Tebow and others. Here’s the link if you want to read it.

Pop singer Ke$ha is known for her wild videos and stage antics. Her songs are fun and over the top, too. In her first hit, the #1 “Tik Tok”, she sings “before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack”.

So, you might think her treatment has something to do with drugs and alcohol. However, it’s something different.

The 26-year-old pop star released a statement last weekend saying, “I’m a crusader for being yourself and loving yourself but I’ve found it hard to practice. I’ll be unavailable for the next 30 days, seeking treatment for my eating disorder…to learn to love myself again. exactly as I am.”

EATING DISORDERS AFFECT BOYS, TOO

Ke$ha, I wish you much success in what will be a daily struggle for the rest of your life. I know it’s something that she and the millions like her will fight each day.

When people think of eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia, most incorrectly believe it only affects females and Karen Carpenter’s name likely comes to mind.

However, it’s estimated that 10-15% of those affected by eating disorders are male.

I, too, am a recovering food addict. You’ll often hear me blog about eating healthy or walking on the treadmill. It’s not because I’m vain. It’s because I fight the food demon of overeating every day. A few pounds to the average person is a huge burden, a catalyst for insecurity, and a path for destruction to a food addict.

After nine years of being a practicing bulimic from 1986-1995, I’ve been on the wagon now for going on 19 years. Like an any other addict, recovery is a daily process.

It’s because of this that I blogged a couple of years ago about Adele’s weight.

It’s been my second most viewed blog since I posted it. I’m sharing it again to raise awareness of weight and eating disorders. I hope you check it out. Feel free to share it because it might save someone who needs to know they are not fighting this battle alone.

In memory of Karen Carpenter, one of my favorite singers ever, here’s a medley of The Carpenters’ greatest hits.

“COUNTRY MUSIC: FACTS, FIGURES & FUN”

After finally finishing enough magazines to read a book, I ended up reading four last year and vowed to read many more than that in 2014.

I just finished my first book, a short little 96-page history of country music that I picked up at a yard sale or a dollar store. It’s called “Country Music: Facts, Figures & Fun” by Mike Evans.

It was an interesting little read. While most know that country music was originally known as the derogatory term “hillbilly music” and was changed to “country & western music” in 1949 and shortened to country music, its roots are traced by to the British Isles hundreds of years ago!

You probably already know that I love my women of country music. While this book did profile Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Shania Twain, there were only a few brief mentions of my favorites, Reba McEntire and Patty Loveless.

The book also educated me on the history of bluegrass, singing cowboys, honky-tonk, the crossover appeal of “The Nashville Sound”, and outlaw music.

“I’M A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY” FLASHBACK

When I think of “outlaw music”, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings come to mind. The phrase was coined from a 1972 Jennings song called “Ladies Love Outlaws.”

Jennings was born about a half-hour outside of Lubbock, Texas, in 1937. While he became one of the biggest stars in country music, he never forgot his family back home. In my year in Lubbock, in 1997, I interviewed his brother, who owned a gas station in west Texas, and he confirmed that about his famous brother.

Waylon scored his first hit in 1965 and his last Top 40 appearance on the Billboard Country charts was in 1991.

In all, he had 83 Top 40 hits on the country charts. Of those, 53 reached the Top Ten, including 15 number one songs.

While I have many Waylon favorites (solo and with Willie and Jessi Colter, his wife), my all-time favorite, “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” was released in April 1977 and it reached, #1. It also reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Did you know that Jennings was a bass player for Buddy Holly and he gave up his seat on a chartered plane in February 1959 leaving Mason City, Iowa, for the next show? That plane crashed killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

Waylon Jennings died in 2002. He was 64.

ONE TOO MANY CONCUSSIONS?

On a recent episode of “UK Celebrity Big Brother”, former boxer champion Evander Holyfield told fellow contestant Luisa Zissman that being gay is not normal.

Holyfield mumbled “yes, it is a choice… that ain’t the way nobody is made” and said if a person was handicapped, you’d go to a doctor to get it fixed.

I would go into the whole debate of how being gay is not a “choice” like picking out food on a menu, but he probably couldn’t hear me!

It’s no surprise in this country that we have young girls and boys starving themselves or sticking their fingers or other objects down their throats to make themselves throw up their dinner to maintain some unrealistic body image or keep from being called “fat”.

I’ve been very open in the past about my nine-year battle with bulimia from 1986-1995. Honestly, I’ll always have an eating disorder and although I’m not a practicing bulimic, it’s something that I think about every day. I blogged about this back in February when fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld made a comment that singer Adele was “too fat”. You can find that link at the bottom of this blog.

Yes, Adele is definitely a full-figured woman, but the name calling has to stop.

Guess who the latest “fat” celebrity is? Guess who’s getting plenty of press now and it’s not for her new music or her recently announced North American tour dates?

It’s Lady Gaga and all of the publicity is because of her weight gain. Those are pictures from her past tours. Here is a picture of Lady Gaga last week.

And, Mother Monster posted this one on her Facebook page this week.

How many women and men across this increasingly obese country of ours would love to be this “fat”?

In the past, Gaga admitted that she’s battled anorexia and bulimia since she was 15 years old. And, she’s not denying that she’s gained weight.

While dispelling rumors that she’s pregnant, she said, “I love eating pasta and pizza. I’m a New York Italian girl. That’s why I have been staying out of New York. My father opened a restaurant. It’s so amazing. It’s so freaking delicious, but I’m telling you I gain five pounds every time I go in. So my dad wants me to eat there and I’m, like, I’ve got to go where I can drink green juice.”

And, on her Facebook page, Gaga posted this perfect quote by another legendary performer who also faced criticism because of her voluptuous figure.

Lady Gaga may have indirectly addressed body image and how people talk in “Dance in the Dark” from her “The Fame Monster” album. Here are some of the lyrics: “Silicon, saline, poison inject me/Baby, I’m a free bitch” and “Some girls won’t dance to the beat of the tribe/She won’t walk away/But she won’t look back/She looks good/But her boyfriend says she’s a mess”.

As a father of an 11-year-old daughter that loves pasta and desserts, I’m going to do everything that I can to let her enjoy the foods that she loves. At the same time, I’ll be monitoring her weight without bringing it front and center with her. I don’t want her to deal with what Lady Gaga and many others have to deal with. People can be cruel.

I remember coming back home from college, in the mid-1980s, and having a friend of my mother’s make a comment about the amount of weight that I had gained after my first two years at college. Yes, the “freshman 15” and “sophomore 15” caught up with me and I did have a little bit of stomach from the daily endless cafeteria buffet at Murray State.

Those words, regardless of whether it was meant as a light-hearted comment or not, weighed heavily on my mind and, in part, led to my eating disorder.

Back in 1983, the death of legendary singer Karen Carpenter from a heart attack brought on by anorexia nervosa, raised awareness for eating disorders and propelled it into the nation’s spotlight. She began dieting in the 1960s when she weighed about 145 pounds. By the fall of 1975, she was down to 91 pounds!

Prior to her death, after a two-week stay in New York, the singer had gained 30 pounds and was eating healthy. However, the disease had already taken its toll on her body and she died on February 3, 1983.

We should be remembering Karen Carpenter only by her beautiful voice and not the ugly desire to be thin that killed her. I want us all to be healthier. Being a little thin or a little thick is fine. However, being pencil thin or obese is not good.

The bottom line is that when we speak of someone’s weight, we should be tactful about it. There’s a person with feelings behind that body, regardless of what size it is.

P.S. While I was writing this, I considered adding a very inspirational song for me from the early-1990s. It’s from a stunningly gorgeous and very slim woman that I had the pleasure of meeting in 1996. I’m adding Faith Hill’s “Take Me As I Am” because this song gave me hope almost 20 years ago that, one day, I would find an amazing man that would “Take Me As I Am”. And, I did. Faith, thank you for this song.